Madeleine Chapman took her piano-playing nephew Harper to see the orchestra for the first time. Madeleine: When I was very small, I used to sit in the hallway at home with my closest siblings and we would ask our brother Bernard, a teenager at the time, to play songs on the piano. We would name … Read more
On the first day of New Zealand Music Month, Max Tetlow introduces a new monthly round-up of some of the best things to happen in New Zealand music in the previous month. Unknown Mortal Orchestra drop Sex & Food ahead of a world tour This album made headlines for two reasons. First, it’s very good. Second, during … Read more
This weekend, Auckland supergroup/side gig LEISURE collaborated with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, playing at the Auckland Town Hall as the first in a series of APO concerts with pop acts. Hussein Moses came away with mixed feelings. A supergroup or a side gig? It’s hard to justify a band like LEISURE as both, but that’s how … Read more
Blackbird Ensemble musical director Claire Cowan talks to James Manning about adapting Björk’s eclectic back catalogue for the orchestra ahead of this week’s run of concerts in Auckland. New Zealand chamber orchestra Blackbird Ensemble are celebrating experimental Icelandic artist Björk this Wednesday 8th to Saturday 11th November at Auckland’s Q Theatre. Titled Björk: All is … Read more
Orchestras around the world are desperately seeking new audiences. They’ve tried shorter concerts and even half-arse t-shirts, but one of the initiatives most successful at luring new concert goers is a series of shows with orchestras playing music from video games. Final Symphony, featuring the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the music of the Final Fantasy series, played recently … Read more